8 License to Thrill
by redcloudedleopard
Summary: Contemplating getting her superhero license, Azula has some mind-boggling questions answered.
1. A Commitment

So began the late night discussion in the living room. Reed, Sue, Ben, Azula & Alicia took their seats. Johnny had his own plans & Ozai wanted to settle matters at the newly opened office downtown. L.Y. Weapons was a company that now fascinated the press. After all, a superhero license was offered to the company's head honcho (& his daughter) following an invasion by two alien races just days ago! Azula's mom, Ursa, offered to help Ozai get through a video interview (she would speak via video call, all the way from L.Y. HQ in Shanghai as the company leader on that side of the planet) where the media's questions were piling in.

"So, where do we start?" Ben asked, forcing back a yawn. His forty winks could wait; this seemed imperative. Blue Blaze needed a 'preview' of the superhero's schedule, especially of one in the Big Apple.

"Azula, I know you're having your life stepped up a few notches so...suddenly," Sue started, "but Reed & I would like to share something special with you."

She & Reed had been discussing this during 'alone time', on the exact day Kl'rt & Ronan had last escaped capture by the FF. They both felt safe **to be willing to share (or you could even say 'carry') in the burdens** that their two latest superhero friends were now bearing. These included the paparazzi problem, privacy, & even considering getting agents to play a part in keeping their lives in check!

"Hey, I've got my say, too," Ben interrupted. Alicia, not realizing his intention of being funny, put a hand on his broad shoulder & said, "Ben, cool it."

Reed smiled warmly, picking off from where Sue left, "Azula, the accident that created the four of us was a chance to learn how much people desire goodwill. That's why I'm always coming up with new inventions which coincidentally satisfies my interest in science. & actually, life before the accident wasn't so much a...well..."

"Action-packed? With twists & turns? You bet," Sue finished for him, wrapping an arm around his neck to let it drape over his right shoulder. They gazed at each other relaxingly before returning to the subject.

Reed's face was serious, his head hanging a little, "When I was a boy, I lost my mom. & my own Dad...he, well, vanished when I tried keeping in touch with him years back." Sue's right hand tightened a little around him. He went on, "Science has always been my favourite way out of a dull day. I was fascinated by the world, even by the smallest atoms in existence. & if I hadn't met Sue back in college, I wouldn't be right here, right now." He turned to her with a loving expression. Sue delivered her story; her trust in Ozai & Azula had experienced a recent growth spurt, it seemed, "Truth is, Johnny & I are what's left of our family. Mom passed away a long time ago &...," her eyes slid shut, "Dad's gone, too. Reed & I sorta have the same story." She inched yet closer to Reed. It was a sweet scene.

"I'm sorry...," Azula opened her mouth at last. She paused reverentially first, "But really, do you think you want this for your whole life? Reed, you _could_ always cure everyone on your team besides Ben..but that's just me."

Ben got interested, "You got me thinking, Blue Blaze. But for now, saving lives is what we do best. You _feel_ good most of the time."

"Guys, you gotta understand. These powers I have...they're more curse than cool if you ask me. I only use them in my kung fu to keep them controlled," Azula explained.

"You told the reporters you were exposed to a lab chemical. Was it really that bad? You don't even have physical scars &, believe me, a storm of cosmic rays is much worse," Sue said, relaxed enough to laugh some more.

"Let's just say a rebellious young child accidentally got her palms & knees burnt one day. The burns reached deep into my body, all the way to the core. I was dangerous to everyone around me, & still am."

"You're an incredibly daring person, Azula. You shouldn't let your fear of hurting anyone tamper with that," Sue responded.

"Well, when was the last time you burned someone?" asked Alicia, a bit hesitant.

"Uh...I don't remember. You got me," it was Azula's turn to laugh weakly.

"See?" Reed excitedly interjected. "You deserve that superhero license. Few can say they're as special as you." He made the room more upbeat with a question, "So are you sure we don't have to make it the _Fantastic Six_????"

"Save it, Reed," guffawed Azula. "The name doesn't even sound good. Dad & I weren't on that spaceship & we're just here to back you up."

Sue nuzzled Reed a little. Azula grinned, "Honestly, I didn't see this coming. Part of me wondered that day, why was Dad testing the robot so publicly? I've yet to know. But don't get me wrong - I'll safely say I'm warming up to the whole license thingy.."

Alicia shared a nice saying she conjured in her mind, "Azula, I know we just met for a while but - on the fun side, I'd say a superhero license is a _license to thrill_ the world. People look up to you & want you around all the time."

"Thanks," Azula replied in utmost gratitude.

"Are we done yet? This is gettin' pretty heavy," Ben yawned (finally!).

Reed gave Sue a little hug before helping her up, & uttered, "Yes, let's get to bed."


	2. A Word of Advice

"Hey, Zed…," Johnny trotted out of the elevator with a yawn. He crossed paths with Azula, Ben & Alicia, then entered his room.

"Blue Blaze, I forgot to tell ya –" Azula was just walking out the door when Ben called to her. Alicia was next to Ben behind her, also ready to leave for her loft. Azula lent her ears despite feeling the late night drowsiness. "Remember the Mole Man?" asked Alicia, directing her question to Azula.

Ben said, "Last time that chump invited me to be 'king' of the underworld. He couldn't stop saying the city hated me, which is kinda true, so I nearly said 'yes'."

Inevitably, Azula yawned a pretty heavy yawn at this hour if she was still not asleep, but didn't mind conversing, "I think I remember you telling me. What's your point?"

"Don't trust guys like that. Ever. They just want you to back 'em up." A cheeky grin flashed across his somnolent mug.

"Yup, another lesson for superheroes. If you do every little thing people tell you, you become _them_, not you," Alicia continued for him. **"Worrying too much about the outside world's gonna choke you & make you unfruitful."**

"That ain't gonna be on my watch," chuckled Ben midsentence.

"You made my day, guys," Azula breathed as though a door to a fresh oxygen garden was opened to her. Her eyes were now somewhat luminous, lit with a wonderful kind of emotion, obviously. She said another 'thank you' & left.

Ben looked to his girlfriend & took her hand gently, preventing her from leaving just yet. He was earnest in his next few words, "Alicia, this is why I'd be dead without you." Serious as it sounded, Alicia could still tell her boyfriend hadn't lost his sweet sense of humour, "Don't mention it, Ben." He pulled her closer to his chest, her head resting on it while a little simper curved up the corners of her mouth.

"Good night," she muttered.

"Don't let 'em bedbugs bite," he replied. Alicia was so precious to him for she undergirded his unwavering spirit.

She pressed for the elevator whilst he made his way to his room to call it a night.

***

Ozai was removing his favourite beige jacket as his daughter entered their unit. He didn't greet her though, for a string of thoughts pressuring him to bring up an imperative matter was bothering him. Azula had her back turned to him; she was scrutinizing a large new casing for Leopard X that was propped against a wall. It measured five by seven feet in size. Thinking about how the huge thing could fit into the space was hilarious. To access the armour, Ozai was required to pass identification tests for the retina, voice, & palm prints, plus enter his numbered passcode _in addition to a separate password_! These means of ensuring security would too apply to every person who operated any of the company robots in time.

Assembly line production of the robots in Shanghai was to begin this coming week, given the approval Ozai received from happy staff members, not to mention his darling wife! Should circumstances allow for production in America, it would only be later, but of course the company would welcome the opportunity. What differentiated the now famous Leopard X from these robots was that the latter could only access Dupe Mode (movement on two legs). Leopard X could activate an additional Quad Mode whereby he'd move on all fours just like the animal that inspired him to think up the whole project. He needed Quad Mode to sprint around the vast areas of New York City to assist the FF in good time, race to a different area to fend off adversaries if the FF were unable to split up, or engage in high speed chases especially where the Fantasticar was involved. But he always remembered the virtue of humility: Leopard X & Blue Dragon were simply to back the Fantastic Four up. He didn't buy the desire to compete with his four newest friends or let their careers be toppled.

Ozai took into account just about every risk that arises from making powerful cyborg leopards. Power hungry folks with a sinister motive, skills, the brains, & stealth would try getting their hands on the robots. As a result, another department in the company focused on creating artificially intelligent computers like L.Y. herself. "I am going to have siblings? This will be excellent, Dr. Ozai," L.Y. had told her creator once. Only people who served in the military, with a certain amount of experience under their belts, could power a robot. &, the robot count for a particular district of the city or town would be fixed. For example, only twenty robots could be online in the 8.05 km²-sized Luwan district at the same time. The robots were to assist the police force, security guards & systems for crime hotspots or important buildings, & more. Ozai's current aim was to work out an emergency shutdown for individual robots in the event of the robot (or multiple robots) being misused for non-beneficial purposes...

"Hey, Dad...," a greeting finally left Azula's lips. Ozai inhaled slowly & agreed with himself to tell her.


	3. A Truth

"Hello," he said. Azula lifted an eyebrow with a cheerful countenance & teased, "Why so formal?" Ozai sighed but smiled, too. The question had sounded rhetorical, anyway.

"It's…I've been saving this for a long time, but I figured I'd tell you, now that it's been done," he spoke in multiple breaths. From the words, Azula guessed it was a good thing, but it probably had a likelihood of surprising her. "Then I too have a question. Why did you test the robot in public that day, which led to me officially becoming a superhero?" she responded, the brightness of her face appearing to have toned down.

"Firstly, have you had any solid idea for why I asked you to come with me? To New York?" her father asked.

"To help you with the company & all…& get a job at L.Y. & soon take your place & carry your legacy of animal robot factories forward," she answered draggingly, but she ruled out the intention to insult him. Still, she had initially refused to travel abroad.

He chuckled in response, "No. I can't force a horse to drink even if I've dragged it to the water's edge!"

"You're joking, right?" She sounded serious again, words flowing with average quickness.

"Your powers. People here love them. I got you to tag along to find a place to fit in here. I had considered this after…the accident, although the FF hadn't yet been formed. Your mother & I & our friends worked to make L.Y. Weapons grow & go international, for three reasons."

"I'm listening," she filled in with extremely intent eyes.

"The first two are to help keep people safe, & to provide for anyone in need in our family. Which you would probably guess correctly. But these _aren't_ the most important." He took a deep breath for he uttered, "I'm doing this primarily for _you_. To make up for your life all these years. I knew how hard it was to you to mingle with kids after it happened, & I felt the same tug in my chest as you did."

Azula was definitely perplexed now, "Dad, wow…you…" She stuttered a number of times.

"_Your superhero license is my 'sorry' for what I did to you._ When you got your powers, word spread at home about us being dangerous. &..about me being cruel. Apparently, it was even in the papers but the authorities didn't allow it to go on; we were lucky they did their job to protect us. But the beauty of the people here even back then was they welcomed anything 'new' to them, however strange. I had my eyes fixed…on bringing you here when the company was big enough, to see if you yourself could somehow do the people well with your unique abilities. _That _happened when you jumped off this building that day, & fought beside the FF." He was smiling now.

"Go have fun being the Blue Dragon," he concluded.

She wasn't crying, but couldn't help but throw her arms around him very tightly. "Thanks so much, Dad," she added to her loving gesture.

She was touched by what he said next, "The best thing about this is _you_ are the reason why L.Y. is doing so well today." He let go of her before walking to the living room bookshelf. Interestingly, he took out a beautiful book: his Bible, which he read far more often now that they had settled down comfortably. The growth of the Christian faith was quite significant in their home country since the loosening of restrictions on religion by the People's Republic. But government authorities still often tightly controlled religious practices, much to Ozai's annoyance. Back then; they'd meet up with relatives & pals in "unregistered" house church meetings (Iroh, Ozai's brother, was incessantly laughing about the term _"unregistered"!_). Ambitions to travel abroad were coupled with his dislike for sporadic persecution against such Christians in Mainland China.

Flipping in a quick second to a section of the book (which he didn't bookmark!), & traced a finger across part of a page which read, **"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."**

Ahhhhhh…., Azula reflected on the verse. It seemed to hum in both their minds. They felt a nice feeling, sort of like a feeling of possessing something that could last eons.

"What about keeping L.Y. weapons in operation, though?" she suddenly querried.

"Don't worry. The company isn't necessarily a must for family members to inherit. Our friends can help."

* * *

I hope reader's understand what's going on. If you ain't clear, please drop me a line & I'll tweak this chapter.

As for the cause of Azula's powers, I'm going yet deeper into it in a future episode. Thank yous XDD


End file.
